Chapter Twenty-Five: Of Rusty Speeders

Breathless with exhaustion, Anakin finally extinguished his lightsaber. "All right, Leia," he told her, reaching up and wiping sweat from his brow with his wrist. "That's enough for today."

Though exhausted, he felt a burst of hidden hint of pride as he watched Leia lower her lightsaber. Sweat glistened on the skin of both of them, built up from three long rounds of dueling. He had pushed her even harder today, but her skills had held up.

With a final exhalation, Leia extinguished her lightsaber and immediately took a seat cross-legged on the ground. She seemed to be exhausted, judging from how she was working to calm her breaths.

Anakin took a seat beside her, handing her a towel and canteen of to make sure she stayed cool and hydrated, especially in the heat of the day. "You did very well," he told her. "Be sure to hold your posture, but other than that you held out very well."

Leia just nodded, still trying to catch her breath before she responded. "You said I'm almost finished working on the forms."

Anakin nodded. Leia had progressed startlingly quickly, especially for her age and her lack of prior lightsaber experience, and Anakin had already taught her almost all the forms. The only thing left for them was practice and application, which could be achieved through simple duel matches. "Once we complete this form, there's little else I can teach you."

His words caused Leia to suddenly glance up in surprise. "I haven't even beaten you yet."

Anakin chuckled. "Perhaps not," he granted. "But I have over thirty years under my belt in lightsaber training. And who knows. I've been beaten plenty of times, and once by your brother."

Leia smiled at that, and Anakin continued with a teasing twinkle in his eye, "Maybe it's time to show Luke that Form V."

Leia's smile widened, but she looked down humbly as a slight blush set over her cheeks. Anakin just smiled at that, knowing that she was pleased by his compliment.

They met with the others a minute later, when Luke, Han, Jinn, and Padmé came to find them.

"How's it going?" Luke immediately asked them. "Almost finished?"

Leia glanced quickly towards Anakin, as if asking for permission to be dismissed. When Anakin just nodded and smiled, she and Anakin both rose to their feet.

"Just about," Leia replied, and she reached to hand Anakin back the spare lightsaber.

Anakin, however, made no motion to take it. "Keep it," he told her with a small smile. "Until you are able to make your own."

He watched as Leia's eyes filled with emotion. "But it's yours."

Anakin laughed softly at her confusion. "I have no need for two," he replied softly. "Besides, I made it with you in mind." When her gaze did not relent, he continued gently, "Please, I want you to have it. At least until you construct your own."

Leia's eyes softened. "Thank you, Father," she replied.

The exchange was something of a seal between them, a sign of their care and respect for one another. Although perhaps such an exchange may have been common for another person, it was valuable to them because it was just another reminder of how far they had come. And although Anakin sensed she was touched more than she showed, the conversation quickly pushed on when Han spoke up.

"Before we head out, Skywalker," Han began, drawing their attention to him, "I was wondering if you could take a look at the speeder parked in the back. It's having some difficulties that I can't locate."

Anakin looked curiously at him. Usually Solo was very adept at mechanical work, and he rarely asked Anakin for help with anything. It more had to do with an issue of pride than anything, Anakin supposed, but if Han was truly asking for his help, then they must have truly reached the end of the galaxy. "Engine problem?"

Han just shook his head. "You'll have to take a look," he replied, folding his arms over his chest. "I think it has something to do with the boosters, but I'm not sure."

Anakin just nodded. He might as well; nothing else occupied his time at the moment, and it would be a nice thing to do for his future son-in-law. "I'll take a look at it."

"I don't see any issues," Anakin said, after he, Solo, and Luke had examined the speeder thoroughly. He frowned, running his hand over the engine cover. The engine itself seemed to be well enough, and Anakin had already scoured the boosters and the motor controls. None of them had seemed to have any issues, leaving all three of them extremely baffled. "How does it fly?"

Han shrugged. "Besides the abnormal chugging noises, normally, I suppose. Perhaps a bit slower."

Anakin located a loose knob on the rear of the engine and worked to screw it back into place. He doubted the loose knob was the source of the problems, but it was still good to make sure everything was in good condition. "Did you fly it here?"

Han nodded, his frown deepening.

"Hmm." Anakin squinted once more at the engine. He was at his end in ideas as well, as much as he hated to admit it. The only way to find out what might be wrong with the speeder was to see how it responded in flight. "Do you plan on flying it back to the apartment?"

Han nodded, folding his arms over his chest.

"I could fly you there to test it out," Anakin offered, shutting the engine's hood with a loud slam. "By then I might be able to locate the source of the problem and try to fix it."

Han briefly frowned at the speeder, and then turned his eyes to Anakin. "Alright, then."

Five minutes later, Anakin, Han, Luke, and Leia were in the speeder, heading back in the direction of Leia's apartment. Wind buffered them, tussling their hair as they pulled away from the Padmé and Anakin's apartment building and into the lanes of traffic. Light and whizzing noises whirled around them, surrounding them in a brilliant whirlwind of stimulation. Anakin barely noticed it, however. Whether it was from experience or concentration, his thoughts were carefully narrowed on the feel of the speeder beneath him. He was determined to figure out what was ailing the rusty piece of metal, as if it was some sort of puzzle to be solved.

For the most part, the speeder responded well to Anakin's directions. Its controls worked well, and it glided very smoothly through the air; Han had done a very fine job repairing it and keeping it up and running. And for the most part, it was running well. Except for that disconcerting rumbling noise whenever Anakin leveled the speeder.

"It's probably in the stabilizers," Anakin told them as he pulled out of a climb. The speeder began to rumble beneath them, as he expected it might. That usually meant that the engine was having trouble adapting, most likely because of stabilizer difficulties. He would probably have to reopen the engine and reconnect the power converters between the two parts. "The engine is over compensating."

When he was met with confused glances from his children and Han, Anakin motioned to two small buttons to the side of the control panel and explained, "See those switches there? They usually work with helping the engine adapt to the abrupt change in altitude-"

Suddenly, a blaring noise filled the speeder, cutting Anakin off and causing the speeder to swerve dangerously into the opposing lanes of traffic. Anakin's heart lurched as he saw the opposing traffic rush towards them, lights blinding and voices raised in alarm. Only his inherent talent and Jedi reflexes allowed him to direct the speeder out of the opposing lane, just in time for speeders to whip by them, so close that their wind could be felt on the skin. Just as the speeder had returned, however, it suddenly dipped beneath them, and the engine seemed to sputter, turning off and on almost simultaneously. Immediately, the buttons on the control panel began to blink red.

"What's happening?" Leia's alarmed voice asked from the back of the speeder. "Father?"

Anakin's heart dropped with dread and his hands skittered to the control panel. He was not sure what was happening, but he needed to figure it out before something drastic happened. Struggling to maintain a calm outward appearance, Anakin began flipping the switches on the control panel. Energy reverser, on. Stabilizer, on. Acceleration, off.

"What's happening?" Luke echoed.

The speeder's screen flashed with the words Engine rebooting.

"Engine rebooting?" echoed Leia, alarm in her voice as the shuttle's nose began to slowly tilt downward.

There was no use. Anakin had no idea what was happening. He would have to land the speeder wherever he could, and the sooner the better. He didn't expect the engine to last much longer.

"Hold on," he instructed them, his hands moving to switch all controls to manual. He could barely keep them from shaking as they gripped the controls. He had piloted many different ships before, but never at the risk of his children's lives. "We're going to be okay," he told them through Han's stream of curses. "I'm going to land the speeder."

Although his assurance seemed to calm them for a moment, the quickly accelerating decent of the speeder soon raised the tension once more, and Anakin struggled to maintain an outward appearance of calm as they began to plummet downward. He must have missed something vital about the engine or the stabilizers, but now they were in deep trouble. There was only so much Anakin could do, and each of his actions would be magnified. He couldn't make any mistakes…

Anakin worked to level the speeder as best as he could as they fell towards the Coruscanti underground, trying to slow the speeder's descent. If he needed to, and he wasn't sure if he would, he could attempt a possible leap from the crashing speeder, bringing his children and Han with him. That would be the last resort. Anakin was fairly certain he could manage to straighten them out before them.

They broke through the last line of traffic, heading toward a gap in the skyscrapers where the ground leveled off. Anakin watched, adrenaline pulsing through him, as the ground came up to meet them.